Thursday, August 03, 2006
(1:53 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
Quality Entertainment
It's a shame to be doing a PhD right now, because entertainment -- in all its many branches -- is so amazingly good. The quality and variety available, and the distribution of that availability, is unsurpassed in the history of humanity. Think of music. As early as the 1990s, we were chained to the radio, with its uninspiring mediocrity -- now we have instant access to the vast archives of musical history and an ever-expanding array of new artists. All of this would be simply overwhelming if the increase in availability were not accompanied by the vast increase in venues for seeking out informed comment, for filtering. People worry that the Internet is confining people to what they already know, but in fact the ad hoc filtering function of the various blogs and other venues lowers the risk of trying new things. The personalities associated with various blogs and websites make the present situation akin to having access to recommendations from well-informed and trusted friends, as opposed to standing alone in front of a card catalogue. This applies to books, movies, television shows -- every area of cultural endeavor.But even in the areas that were supposed to go the way of the dinosaur, there has been a remarkable upswing in quality. After their unfortunate fixation on reality TV, the major networks have turned to producing better and better shows in all genres. The variety of programming available on a single network far surpasses anything in the recent past. Just on Fox alone, you can see episodic drama, classic soap operas, "action" soap operas like 24 or Prison Break, live music and dance performances, all manner of game shows, sitcoms, cartoons, etc., etc. -- and from what I can tell, the other networks are following suit to various degrees, rivalling the premium cable networks in program quality. And that's on top of the wide panoply of basic cable, with its decorating shows, decorationg shows, decorating shows, and decorating shows.
Finally, there are video games of stunning quality -- the industry has more than recovered from the doldrums it experienced in the early to mid-90s when improved graphics technology led developers to neglect gameplay. Now the best video games approach the level of works of art.
In short, if you're not being entertained, it's your own damn fault. Like me -- it's my own damn fault for signing up for a PhD program when I knew it would mean that I'd have to miss House every week.
So anyway... I probably should get back to reading.
